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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many stitches did Fireman Billy-o get in Chapter 7?

2. What one gift did Smith want more than anything as a child?

3. How many shots did the police officer fire at the fleeing youth in front of the fire station in Chapter 6?

4. Approximately how many children were at the ice cream party in Chapter 9?

5. Why were the five adults and two children unable to escape the burning building?

Short Essay Questions

1. Is the poverty seen by Dennis Smith in the South Bronx different than the poverty in which he grew up?

2. How did Smith convince himself of the need to respond to all calls when he found himself getting fed up with the arson incidents?

3. What was Smith's attitude toward the man hanging around at the Union Avenue fire in Chapter 10? How did he feel about the man screaming that the firemen were not taking fire victims to the hospital because they didn't care about black people?

4. How did Dennis Smith feel as a child when the welfare inspector visited his family?

5. Why does Smith suggest that perhaps even with guidance, South Bronx resident Tina de Vega may still have ended up on drugs and prostituting herself?

6. In what way can the training firemen undergo never be completely sufficient?

7. How did Smith distinguish between acts of shoplifting and looting within poor neighborhoods?

8. Did Smith's wife appreciate her husband's devotion to his job?

9. In what key way does Smith say the modern firefighting exams are different from those of the past?

10. Despite the death of the baby in the last fire in the book, Smith was more committed than ever to remaining a firefighter. What did he see at that fire that reinforced his tremendous loyalty to his fellow firemen?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The firefighters of Engine Co. 82 made several efforts to connect with the neighborhood children, for example, through ice cream parties. Do these sorts of community outreach projects ultimately help the community and if so, how? How can seeing authority figures "at ease" and off the job help children see them as non-threatening? Smith at one point expresses dismay that firefighters willing to to crawl through a fire to rescue one black child will share ice cream with 100 black children. In what ways do these community outreach projects help firefighters themselves? Do they normally get the chance to see people at their best? Can getting to know the neighbors outside of emergency calls help firefighters develop a deeper and more satisfying relationship with their community?

Essay Topic 2

Smith discussed the need for the firefighters to pay for much of the equipment and supplies they needed for their jobs. Why do you think New York was reluctant to provide sufficient provisions for fire departments? How did the firefighters view this lack of support and what would they have liked to do about it?

Essay Topic 3

Some of the South Bronx children, including Tina de Vega, occasionally visited Engine Co. 82 when they were younger. Why do you think these children made these visits to talk to Smith and the other firemen? Were they simply bored? Were they looking for some sort of adult guidance? Were they reaching out to the adult world?

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